Dutiful Boyfriend
by starshards
Summary: After another disasterous match, a certain Chinese blader gets an unwanted, but necessary 'talking to' from none other then Kai Hiwatari. [Second part added: the meeting afterwards- tiny yaoi- KaRe]..
1. Anger

"Are you actually stupid, or do you just try to act it?"

The sound of a familiar, cold voice cut through his all ready troubled thoughts, causing him to start and whirl around to confront the speaker. He froze in his place, all of his angry retorts dying on his tongue as his yellow gaze met an even colder glare, the crimson gaze lacking all of the warmth usually held by such a passionate colour. However, upon closer inspection, those eyes did hold some warmth beneath the layer ice, burning with the ferocity of an inferno, betraying his barely disguised fury.

"At any rate, you should try going into acting. You'd obviously be better at it then Beyblading, but then, I'd imagine that that would be the case with most things you do," the owner of that garnet glare spoke up again, sneering at him and causing his own anger to flare up in response.

"Do you have a point Kai, or are you just here to satisfy your pathetic need to assure yourself that you're better then everyone else," he bit back, watching with satisfaction as Kai's eyes widened a fraction, before his newfound confidence took a nosedive when they narrowed even more so then before, until they were mere slits as Kai twitched slightly, obviously trying to keep his anger in check. He backed up a little, baring his fangs when the Russian's fist's clenched at his sides, preparing to dodge the fist he was sure was about to slam into him.

To his surprise, Kai's shoulders suddenly sagged; the ex-captain visibly calmed himself, looking up with a slight smirk on his lips. The Chinese blader shivered when he noticed that blood- red gaze, fixed firmly upon him was even darker then before, making the boy look positively sadistic.

"Big words, coming from an idiot. I'm surprised that you could come up with something like that. Your team captain must be having a good effect on you, however, in answer to your questions- both of them- I do indeed have a point, and secondly, I don't _need_ to assure myself; I all ready know," He snorted at the arrogance of the phoenix blader and glared back at him, feeling his eyes slit in the process.

"If you have a point Kai, kindly get to it. Your very presence is pissing me off, and I have better ways to spend my time then standing out here with _you_," He retorted, displeased when Kai's smirk faded and his mouth twisted into a scowl. The Russian looked almost bored.

"Trust me, the feeling is very much mutual," he replied blandly, flicking imaginary dust off his scarf before fixing his gaze back onto the neko-jin, "and there you have answered your own question," the paler youth ignored the confused look on the others face and stepped closer, his face taking on a faint look of disgust, "my point is my _friend_, is that one of the ways you could spend your time in better ways, could be to train, or perhaps listen to your captain occasionally, since you're so obviously clueless. Face it, you're pathetic," he spat, looming over the cat- like young man in an act of intimidation. The anger within him finally died, his eyes returning to normal and sliding to gaze at the floor. He tried to ignore the sharp stab of guilt and sadness that clutched at his heart.

"I'm- I'm not!" he argued back, sounding wholly disbelieving himself, Kai let out a short mocking laugh.

"Yes, you are. You're a wasted talent. You could be good if you used your head, but no, you insist on being stubborn. You insist on totally loosing your head and rushing into attacks. You insist on loosing. You insist on letting down your team every damned battle, and though I wouldn't usually give a damn about you and your team, what I do care about, and what makes me angry, is that you insist on shaming a blader who's far too good to deserve being shamed by an amateurish blader like yourself. You shame your captain; Rei. Every damned battle." Kai paused in his speech to back up a little, his voice lowering to a hiss. "Every time you ignore his good advice and let him down, you're throwing his friendship right back in his face. It's no secret Lai that without you, Rei and the Bai Fu Zu would have won all three of their matches. Without you Lai, they could have won, but with you, they've thrown it all away. The way that Rei saved you in that battle yesterday is evidence enough of that." Lai stared back, ashamedly holding back tears as he continued to stare at the ground.

"So you came here just to kick me when I'm down? To preach what I all ready know?" He said quietly, his voice heavy and laden with bitterness. Distantly, he heard Kai sigh.

"I'm not that desperate for entertainment," he snorted, before moving to lean against the wall, "I'm just doing my job, and defending Rei's honour is one of the tasks that comes with it," he explained coolly. Lai looked up, meeting the still angry, but slightly softened glare.

"You're not his captain anymore," he stated. Kai smiled slightly in response, a brief twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Ah, yes, but this is a different kind of job, a more important one," Kai shrugged, glancing at the sniffling blader casually, "look. You're getting Rei down. He's torn between his need to be a leader and his need to be a friend, and he, obviously being a nicer person then I am, is still leaning towards friendship. I want you to honour that. I want you to grow up and get over this pathetic need to prove yourself. I want you to honour the belief that Rei obviously has in you, because, to put it bluntly, you're offending him. Neither of you realise it, but this faith and confidence that Rei pours into you, he need's honoured. Yet you just take it all and never come through for him. In that way, you are offending him, and when you offend him, you offend me. Do you understand me?" He questioned, the authority he had about him, clear in his voice. The Lion nodded, gulping slightly and feeling even worse then before when he realised all of what Kai had said was true. Kai nodded slightly in response, "Good. Sort it out. Listen to what Rei has to say, and for God's sake, don't loose your head so easily. Concentrate on what you're doing, and if you're in doubt, just give it your best shot for Rei. Make him proud that you're his partner, but then, he has had to lower his standards from last year," Kai smirked, almost good- naturedly, before turning to walk away.

"Don't flatter yourself so much," Lai shot back, feeling a little more light hearted. Kai turned around and shrugged.

"Once you've had Kai, it's hard to turn back," he answered, though his lighter tone indicated that he too, was in a somewhat better mood.

"Hey Lai what're—Kai?" A soft voice interrupted their banter, causing both to turn their attention to the raven- haired lad at the door.

"Hey," Kai said smoothly. Rei blinked and frowned slightly at the sight of Kai and Lai hanging out in the hallway together, especially given their uneasy past with one another.

"Hey yourself. Lai, Mao's asking after you, she's made you another salad, so hurry up before she goes homicidal on you," he announced, leaning casually against the door frame. Lai nodded and made a dash for the door, pausing to look back at the boy, who, only a few minutes ago looked ready to batter him into a bloody pulp.

"Hey, thanks Kai," he nodded and sent him a small smile before disappearing through the open door. Rei's frown deepened, as he stared at Kai.

"What was all _that_ about?" he questioned, padding up to his fellow team- captain. Kai shrugged, giving him the smallest of grins,

"We just had a little chat is all," Rei looked unsure, but nodded nonetheless, trusting his ex-team mate's word, "how about we go for a little walk? The two of us, just like in the 'good old days'?" Kai asked lightly, jokingly referring back to their time together as half of the BBA Revolution. Rei blushed a little and nodded.

"Sure, but not_ too_ much like the 'good old day's' eh? Else we'll never get any walking done." Rei joked. Kai's grinned widened as they walked together down the corridor, their destination, at that point, unknown to either. They were just satisfied with the company.


	2. Reflections

Because, I am a pain and cannot leave this alone (besides, it started off as a three- parter anyway, though the final part will not be seen on here anytime soon- me being on my 'last strike' and all,) I present; yet another reflective, slightly over- romantic KaRe. Sorry, I can't help it. I gotta keep the side up!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own ideas

* * *

"Do you regret leaving?"

It was a simple question, but its depth was only matched by the difficulty to answer.

"Honestly?" The ochre eyed lad asked, his voice even quieter and softer then usual as he leaned against the wall of the roof top, his chin resting on crossed arms as the wind played gently with his silky jet tresses.

"Of course," The answer was what he had expected; after all, Kai was never one to bull shit. The Russian was clad in a long black coat, adorned with red ties as he stood casually leaning against the wall next to the door that they had entered through, apparently not feeling the evening heat. The mood fell sombrely between them, the atmosphere almost seeming heavier around the taller of the two, his simple question destroying the light ambiance that had grown between them.

Rei sighed, brushing some hair from his eyes in an absent-minded gesture, his yellow eyes glittering as he watched the city lights with rapt fascination. He seemed to be struggling to answer and sighed a little, raising one of his folded arms and resting his chin in a cupped hand.

"Yes," he admitted an almost guilty tone detectable in his soft voice. Kai stayed silent, instead choosing to move and join his ex- team-mate at the wall and watch the busy city night life below them. It seemed that up here, with that strange tranquillity borne of trust and understanding that usually seemed to settle over them, they were almost apart from the world. Two souls floating in the cosmos, watching life continue beneath them. It could almost be described as true peace.

Reluctant to break the silence, Kai turned his crimson gaze onto his most respected peer, unsurprised when Rei's gaze remained fixated on the dazzling lights of Perth.

"Then why did you?" The Neo Borg blader frowned a little, annoyed at the tiny waver in his voice and even more so at the knowledge that Rei would have undoubtedly picked up on it. The Chinese team captain lifted his stare from the city to his companion, meeting his eyes and holding them for a while, searching for emotions that only he could ever read. Kai felt almost uneasy, he always did when Rei looked at him like that. It was one of the only times that he was helpless.

As if sensing his friend's discomfort, Rei tore his eyes away from the others, his gaze dropping to the floor, a sliver of gold all that could be seen from beneath his dark lashes. He looked almost forlorn, yet Kai pushed away his natural urge to comfort him, needing instead to hear his answer. Rei let out a shaky sigh and nodded to himself, before casting his yellow stare over the city once again.

"I was frightened," came his quiet admission after a little more silence. Kai frowned, confused and worried, though his eyes showed none of it.

"Frightened?" he questioned, trying to keep from scoffing. If Rei was worried, then he had good reason to be. The Russian's concern grew when he noticed that Rei's eyes seemed a little shinier then usual- a sure sign that tiger was upset.

"Yeah, I suppose I was," the slight teen muttered, breaking the silence, sending a wan smile in Kai's direction. He began to trail a fingertip along the railing, "it's stupid really, but I couldn't help it you know? The more I dwelled on it, the more I wound myself up and convinced myself that leaving was the right thing to do… now of course, with the benefit of hindsight, I know that it wouldn't have mattered after all. So yes, I regret it, because now I know that it was all for nothing," He paused, puffing his cheeks up in a childish gesture and glanced at Kai out of the corner of his eye.

"And what were you so worried about that you couldn't tell the team, or at least me?" Kai pressed, wincing at the slight hint of hurt that was laced in his voice. Rei turned his amber gaze upon him, his eyes sad. He almost seemed… ashamed. Kai frowned and moved a little closer, a small action of moral support.

"I was… terrified of letting you down again," The lovely Asian teen murmured, his eyes quickly finding the floor. Kai's heart froze within his chest for a moment. All courage seeming to have fled from him as his voice came out in a tiny whisper.

"You were frightened of me..?" This time, he didn't bother hiding the hurt in his voice. The thought that Rei was scared of him cut into him like a hot knife, stabbing at his heart and crushing his lungs, suffocating him. He cursed himself for a fool at his reaction, but he couldn't seem to help it. The thought that the one person he loved more then anything in the world feared him, made him want to weep.

Rei immediately brought his eyes back up, surprised at the upset that was clear in his Russian counterpart's voice, and the way his eyes were almost burning a hole in the floor. Worried that Kai had interpreted what he'd said the wrong way, the younger shuffled forward, his body lightly pressed against the arm of his dear friend whose fist was thrust into a deep pocket of the coat, clenched in his struggle against his raging emotions. Gently, the Bai Fu Zu captain raised a delicate hand, resting it against the taught forearm. Kai turned his gaze back to the other, expectant.

"I never said that I was frightened of you Kai. Even when you left us for Black Suzaku, I never feared you, only missed you. Don't ever think that I'm frightened of you Kai. Sure I'm frightened of the rest of the world, and the things that are happening around us, but never you. I trust you far too much," Rei paused, letting the words sink in, before resuming, not giving his fellow captain a chance to interrupt, "What I said was, 'I was frightened of letting you down'. Don't look at me like that, I _have_ let you down in the past, and I'm pretty sure that I'll only end up doing it again," He finished sadly, sliding his hand from the comforting warmth of the other.

Kai however, was not satisfied with the explanation and grabbed at the retreating digits, clasping them in his strong grip, not willing to let them escape.

"_When_ have you let me down Rei? This was important enough to you to make you decide to leave us, so I want you to tell me. Why did you leave?" He said the words with a strange calmness, yet Rei could feel his impatience behind those final punctuated words.

Much to Kai's surprise, rather then try to pull away, Rei closed his eyes, the slouching of his shoulders announcing his defeat. He leaned forward, wrapping his unoccupied arm about the Russian boys own limb and resting his forehead lightly on the others shoulder, holding him in a gentle embrace, in a way akin to a small child.

"Don't think badly of me, please, I know that it seems pathetic, but," he sighed, not wishing to see the earnest expression he knew would be in his companions eyes. It would only result in him feeling guiltier, "do you remember last year? When we teamed up together to bring down the Saint Seals, and for the championships? Heh, also coincidentally when we…" he trailed off, smiling a little, aware that Kai was doing the same. His smile faded, however, when he continued, "At the time, I was so excited about being your partner. It made me feel so special, knowing that you had faith in me, and were counting on me. I was so proud to be _your_ partner and to prove to myself, and all the world that I was worth something. That I was worthy of you," He shook his head when he felt Kai inhale sharply, indicating that he was about to interrupt, "you may think that it's silly Kai, but I know that you're the best. I know how seriously you take all of this, and I just wanted to be good enough. I mean, we started off great. We worked well as a team; we trusted one another to understand each others actions, and well… we just jammed right?" His ochre gaze met the mahogany eyes of the one who knew him better then anyone else in the world. Kai smiled a little.

"Well that's to be expected. We _do_ know each other _inside_ and out," he couldn't resist the suggestive smirk tugging at his lips. Rei laughed, a small chuckle rumbling in his throat like a purr, as he nuzzled his head back into a broad shoulder.

"The only problem was," he continued after a moment, his voice barely above a whisper. Kai strained to catch all of it, not wanting to miss something he felt was so important, "… was that I lost it when you needed me to stay calm. I let myself fall into an unwavering assault, with absolutely no strategy or thought of what would happen if my attack was to fail. I completely disregarded one of the basic rules of blading, all because I wanted to impress you. If it wasn't for you telling me to get my act together I would have lost it, never mind drawn. After that, I thought, no I knew…" he trailed off, fighting his trembling lip, not wanting Kai to hear the tears in his voice.

"What Rei?" Kai's voice was soft, worry strong in his voice as he reached a hand to his smaller sweetheart's cheek, his pale fingers brushing the marble skin with a startling gentleness. Rei subconsciously leaned into the touch, taking in a shuddering breath.

"I knew that I had lost you the tournament," he breathed, sniffling a little, "If you had teamed up with Takao, you would have won that tournament, like you truly deserved to. I felt so awful. My stupidity cost you, and I ended up doing the one thing I sought to disclaim; proved that I was unworthy of you,"

Almost immediately, the fingers on his cheek moved to grip his chin, forcing him to meet an angry gaze.

"How could you think such a thing? I _love_ you; you think that means nothing to me? I don't give a shit if we lost, being your partner meant _far_ more to me then if I had won the championship with Kinomiya," Rei stared at him, startled by the impassioned answer. Kai's hurt drained away as he stared into those wide, impossibly golden eyes, "Is that why you were so hesitant around me after that match?" he asked, his voice gentle and soft. Rei winced.

"You noticed that?" Kai rolled his eyes, releasing his neko-jin's chin from his grasp.

"It was hard not to Rei. You ran off every time I tried to kiss you for the first two days, and you seemed to develop a serious 'headache' condition for a week and a half after that. So yes, when Kai isn't getting any, Kai notices," he deadpanned. Rei giggled despite himself.

"And here I thought you were so in tune with my emotions, you sensed it," Kai smiled softly and turned around to face his fellow team captain, shrugging out of the embrace on his arm.

"So, now I know why you decided to leave so soon after they announced that they were sticking to the tag-team format. You knew that we'd automatically form a team within the BBA ne?" a hesitant nod answered him, "Gods, Rei! Why didn't you tell me that you felt that way? We would have sorted this out. Do you know how hard it is to just watch you across the stadium? I can't even talk to you casually. I hate to sound childish, but I miss you like Hell," Rei nodded, reflecting Kai's opinion. The slate haired teen sensed the sadness that had returned to the boy before him, and in an act that was wholly familiar and welcome to the both of them; he stepped forward and took the younger into his arms.

Almost immediate in his response, Rei snuggled into his lover's broad chest, his arms curling around his back and clutching at the black coat. Kai returned the affectionate gesture, one hand resting at the base of his tiger's spine, while the other reached up to gently rub the space between the others shoulder blades, drawing Rei closer to him. Without thinking, the Chinese boy nestled his face into the junction between Kai's neck and shoulder, breathing in his scent, both delicious and comforting. Kai smiled and rested his chin upon the soft spikes of midnight locks.

They stood like that for several minutes, neither wishing to disrupt the peace that fell between them. After a while, Rei pulled away a little, shifting his head from his little safe spot, to look the elder in the eye. Despite the only small height difference between them, Rei still had to tilt his head to meet his gaze. Kai smiled a little at how adorable the other blader looked, and couldn't resist placing a small kiss upon his full, soft lips, warm and inviting.

The contact was only brief, but enough as Rei smiled, happier then before, and removed a hand from the Russian blader's back, reaching up to run delicate fingers along a painted cheek. Kai closed his eyes to the gentle, almost ghost like touch, and leaned forward until his forehead was resting against the headband of his beloved friend.

"I'm sorry; if it wasn't for me we would be side by side tomorrow, not facing one another. I can't believe how stupid I can be," Kai's eyes remained closed as Rei made his apology, silently thinking on the day that he'd been dreading since the start of the tournament. Somehow, he'd hoped that maybe Rei would have been knocked out before it came to this, or perhaps had the luck of the draw on his side, but they had, had no such luck. Tomorrow, they would face each other, not as friends, team-mates or lovers, but as competitors. In that match they had to become enemies, abandoning all of the feelings that they had to come to share, for several horrible minutes.

If the truth be told, Kai was excited at the prospect of facing Rei. He loved playing off against him. Rei thought and battled like him; with his head and determination rather then his heart. He played strategically when he concentrated and showed qualities that up until now, Kai had admired and encouraged. He knew that Rei would give him a run for his money, but this wasn't some practice match or some friendly.

The stakes were so much higher.

Kai sighed after a minute or two of silence and opened his brilliant blood-red eyes, finding that they were immediately ensnared in those bright sunny orbs that always seemed to seal his doom. Without thinking, Kai leaned in and kissed the neko-jin again. The contact was once more brief, but the strength behind it promised more. Rei's ochre eyes widened momentarily in surprise at the others hidden passion, before realising that Kai had been thinking much the same thing about tomorrow as he had.

"What's done is done now, Rei. All we can do is honour our friendship and this relationship by giving each other the match of our lifetimes tomorrow. No hesitation, no holding back, no matter what. Tomorrow, for the duration of our match, we must forget all of this, all that we feel for one another. All I will be to you is just another competitor," Kai spoke, hiding the distress he felt deep in his heart. Rei was less successful in hiding his fears, but nodded nonetheless.

"I'll try, I don't know if I can, but I'll give it my all," Kai smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his cloth covered forehead.

"That's all I can ask of you," he whispered as his lips travelled back down to meet Rei's, his hold on the younger tightening as he tilted his head, slanting their mouths together. The Bai Fu Zu captain slowly reached up to twine his arms around Kai's neck, gasping at the new closeness of their bodies, his golden eyes sliding closed as Kai's tongue pushed past his parted lips to plunder his mouth.

Their lips moved against each other, Rei moaning into the others mouth when strong hands reached down to blindly grope at his buttocks, pushing himself even closer to the tense body of his one time team leader.

The passion rose between them, becoming almost unbearable and their mouths clashed and their tongues danced together, too long denied the company they wished to share with one another. Their breathing became heavier and for the first time that night, Kai felt that he was too hot with that coat on. Realising that they would end up doing things not very appropriate for such a public place at that rate, Kai withdrew, giving the swollen lips of his lover one last lick before tearing himself away, while his self control was still present.

"Tomorrow will hurt us both, I've no doubt. So let's make tonight count," he announced with a small grin, panting a little. Rei looked a little flustered for a moment before he sent a shy smile back and nodded.

"Yeah, let's go," Kai's smile softened and, taking the hand of the blader named Rei Kon in his, lead him towards the stairs.

* * *

I think that you can guess where that one went... coughs twice coughs 

Again, I'm sorry. I cannot help being a yaoi hentai.


End file.
